Cigarette dispenser



Feb. 26, 1952 oss 2,587,225

I CIGARETTE DISPENSER Filed June 14, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. Louis R0551;

Feb. 26, 1952 L. ROSSI 2,587,225

CIGARETTE DISPENSER Filed June 14, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. Louis .Russzl f fforn g enabling the user to take the device I apart cleaning; repair" and inspection.

The dispensing plate beneath the magazine :3

Patented e b. 26, 1952 q n SATS ENT GFFICE This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a device for dispensing cigarettes. An object of the invention is toprovide a simple, efficient, attractive device to dispense cigarettes preferably in such a form as can be used on any cigar counter in a store, or on a table or similar surface in the home.

A further object is to provide a simple device of relatively small size so as to be light in weight and with the parts so related, that it can be very economical to manufacture by modern mass production methods, and wherein the parts can be very readily assembled and disassembled with ease and without the use of screws, bolts, nails, rivets, or the like.

A still further object is to provide an attractive device of ornamental appearance which also may act as a stand for a picture or mirror, which can be detachably related thereto at will.

Further and more specific objects, features, and advantages will more clearly appear from a consideration of the detailed specification hereinafter set forth especially when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a present preferred form which the invention. may assume and which form part of the specification. i

In brief and general terms, the invention concerns the provision of a cigarette dispenser having a base member, a cigarette magazine exto be grasped by the fingers of the smoker. One

of the main features of the invention is that substantially, all the parts are made of sheet metal which can be stamped to-form, and they are quickly and-easily related by means of snap connections of the general natureof ball and socketconnections, thus eliminating the necessity for the use'of" permanent connections and for within the base is adapted to receive by gravity, a cigarette and is provided with a rear forwardly extending wall preferably curved, which is moved beneath the next cigarette in the magazine when the plate is tipped forward so as to at a time.

allow the cigarette on the plate to slide forward on to a delivery apron in the base while preventing the dispensing of more than one cigarette Spring means are" used to retract the plate to a normalv position where the bottom surface of it is upwardly sloped to prevent further dispensing and simple association with the spring is provided to prevent and to limit the retractive motion of the plate.

lhe preferred present form which the invention may assume is shown in the drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is aperspective view looking at. the front of the, device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2'2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the separate parts of the device.

Referringnow merely to the specific form of the invention shown in the drawing, it will be seen that the device essentially comprises a base member A, an upwardly extending magazine B with a top cover C, a front cover D for the base member and actuating handle members E.

The base member A comprises a base plate Ill-having curved rear wall II, side walls 12 and a downwardly and forwardly sloping bottom despring 20.

livery wall l3, down which the cigarettes move by gravity when delivered thereto. The front of this delivery plate I3 is provided with upwardly-struck ears [4 to arrest the forward motion of the cigarette and the plate is cut away as at l5, along this medial edge so that a cigarette resting against the ears i4 may in its mid-section be readily gripped in the hand. v 'Within the base member A and pivotally mounted between the side walls [2, is an opera'ting shaft [6 on which is mounted a dispensing member having a bottom plate with the form of a series of fingers I1, and preferably an integral upwardly and forwardly curved rear wall 18. An arm [9 fixed to shaft I6 is connected to. a spring 25 the other end of which is fastened to the base It and has therein a pin 2! of predetermined height to limit the retractive movement of the arm I9, under the influence of the At the ends of the shaft 16 and outside the casing, are connected curved arms .22 having on their ends operating knobs 23.

rear wall I8 thereof.

wall 23' and having front walls 24 and 25 bent over from the opposite sides of the rear wall and extending partly toward each other, a distance from the rear wall 23 at least equal to the thickness of a cigarette, but leaving a gap between their adjacent edges through which the cigarettes may be observed. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cigarettes are disposed within the magazine in horizontal superposed manner. The magazine, at its opposite lower side walls, is provided with spaced projections similar to ball-shaped knobs 26 suitably fastened thereon. The side walls are made of spring metal so that they can be slidably sprung apart, so as to permit the magazine and protuberances or knobs, to spring into holes 2'! in the upper portions of the side walls and so related so as to hold the magazine in an upwardly rearwardly inclined position with the rear face 23 lying closely adjacent the upper edge of the rear wall I I of the base member, and with the lower end of the magazine a suflicient distance above the dispensing element. With the dispensing element in its retracted position under the influence of spring 20, the fingers IT,

as shown in Figure 2, will be sloped forwardly and upwardly, and the cigarette will move by gravity on to this member and rest against the The top of the magazine is normally open but a U-shaped spring metal cover 28 can be slipped thereover, as shown in Figure 1.

After the magazine has been snapped into position, a curved cover plate 29 may also be snapped into position to hide the lower end of the magazine and to extend over the delivery plate l3 except at its most forward portion. This cover has dependent ears 30 with knobs 3| thereon at each side thereof, which are adapted to be snapped into suitable apertures 32 in the side Walls of the base. It will be readily seen that the device can be taken apart very easily and that except for the more or less permanent mounting of the dispensing element, the parts 'can be taken out and putback in a matter of a few seconds, so that the device can be readily inspected, repaired or cleaned.

In the operation of the device with the parts in the normal position shown in Figure 2, and as stated before, a cigarette is resting on a dispensing element as shown. When the knob 23 is depressed by the finger of the operator, the shaft is is turned moving the supporting fingers I! of the dispensing element forward and downward, so that they extend slightly across the rear edge of the delivery plate l3. At the same time, the rear curved wall 18 of the dispensing member, is moved forwardly to be interposed beneath the next cigarette in the magazine to hold it therein until the dispensing element is retracted. This cigarette will roll off the dispensing element on to the delivery plate and down to and against the ears M, where it can be readily grasped in the hands.

The cover plate 29 is provided with one or more longitudinal elevated ribs such as 33, shown particularly in Figures 2 and 3, and these act as abutments for the lower edge for a small picture or mirror frame 34, which may be disposed in 'front of the magazine if desired. This is shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 2 only.

It is quite clear that the device is simple,,eflicient, can be made by modern mass production methods at extremely low cost out of metal capable of being stamped and highly polished to present a very ornamental and attractive device, and is of such construction as described, as to permit substantially the entire device to be assembled and disassembled without the use of screws, bolts, nuts, nails, or the like.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to the preferred form shown in the drawings, it is not to be limited to such details and forms since many changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest aspects. Hence, it is intended to cover. any and all forms and modifications of the invention which may come within the language or scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as my invention, is:

A cigarette dispensing device comprising a base -member having side walls, a shaft pivotally disposed therebetween, a pin mounted on said base member in upright position, a dispensing element mounted on said shaft and adapted to turn therewith, said element having a forwardly extending fingered base plate and an upwardly and forwardly extending rear wall, an armconnected to said element and extending rearwardly therefrom, a coil spring surrounding said pin, one end 'of said spring being attached to the base member and the other end being attached to the arm, said arm in normal position lying over said pin and held in engagement therewith by said spring, a magazine adapted to contain cigarettes mounted between the side walls, said magazine opening at its bottom just above the rear portion of the dispensing clement, said dispensing element in the normal position having its base plate disposed in a forward and upward direction and adapted to contain a cigarette, manual means connected to said shaft and adapted to turn said shaft and dispensing element so as to tilt the dispensing plate downward and forward to discharge a cigarette therefrom and to move the rear wall of the dispensing element forward to beneath the next REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Smiley et al. Feb. 22, 1910 Nemethi Feb. 21, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 19, 1913 Germany Mar. 11, 1910 Great Britain Sept. 13, 1928 Number Number 

